Chelsea v Manchester City
Premier League – 5.30 pm
Sky Sports
Can Chelsea do something that no other side has managed this season in the Premier League? Can they beat Manchester City? This game deservedly takes its place in the Best Bets of the Day. That is because it’s a game which could see the Citizens move even closer to a league title. Manchester City have won their last seven league games after beating Watford in midweek. The gap is starting to open up at the top now. The Citizens have won away at Arsenal and Spurs this season and held out for a conservative 0-0 draw at Anfield. So maximum points for City would put more distance between themselves a wannabe title contender. As a testament to their strengths, they are 4/5 odds-on at leading bookies to raid Stamford Bridge.
It also means that City have gotten their toughest away games out of the way this season. So it will be home comforts for them against Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs later in the season. Chelsea are defending an eight-match unbeaten home form this season. They did hold second-placed Liverpool to a draw at Stamford Bridge. A win would do nothing in terms of Chelsea getting in the title race. But it would certainly inject a whole new level of confidence in Maurizio Sarri’s men to push on for a top-four finish. Manchester City’s biggest challenges have been when teams have come out and pressed them. Can Chelsea’s ‘Sarriball’ style possibly unlock the brilliance of the visitors? A midweek loss at Wolves leaves Chelsea bigger underdogs in this one at 16/5 odds at leading bookmakers.
Reading v Sheffield United
Championship – 5.30 pm
Sky Sports
Reading have had their compounding issues this season in the Championship. They are struggling along near the foot of the table. Going into the weekend they are only outside of the drop zone on goal difference. What has been helping them is that they have produced better scoring power than anyone else currently inside the bottom six. Can they use that to an advantage on home soil on Saturday evening and grab some precious points for themselves? The home form of the Royals hasn’t even that bad lately though but are still 10/3 underdogs at a leading bookmaker in the match outright to win.
They are unbeaten in four at the Madejski and they have produced at least two goals in five of their last six there. 80% of their home games have gone over 2.5 goals this season. That may be a market worth exploring for the game. The Blades, who are a top-six side, of course, are not going to be a pushover, however. The away form of Sheffield United though, has taken a tumble lately having won just one of their last four on the road (D1 L2). Will that open the door for Reading to get a much-needed win from a position as underdogs?
That having been said Sheffield United have the fourth-best away record in the second tier. They will be kicking off at an odds-on price to claim maximum points. The bookies are still wary of the threat of the Blades who are 4/5 odds-on with the leading bookmakers.
Exeter v Gloucester
European Champions Cup Rugby – 1.00 pm
Channel 4
It is an all-English affair on Saturday afternoon in the European Champions Cup. This is Pool 2 action where Gloucester and the Chiefs are looking to make up some ground on the top two (Munster and Castres respectively). Exeter Chiefs, going so strongly in the Premiership have failed to win either of their opening group games in the Champions Cup this season. They opened with an exciting 10-10 draw against Munster at Sandy Park. But then after an explosive first half out at Castres in their second game, Exeter couldn’t find a winning touch in the second half, missing out 29-25 but getting a bonus point.
Gloucester started in a solid fashion taking out French side Castres at Kingsholm, a result which did give their opponents a losing bonus point. But then Gloucester was unable to build on that as they were outclassed away at Munster. So now heading out on the road again, this is a difficult game in which to try and make up ground. Gloucester lost 23-6 on a trip to Sandy Park in this season’s Premiership and will have no doubts about the size of the task ahead of them. Gloucester are 7/2 underdogs to pull off the away win with the Chiefs heavy odds-on favourites at 1/5 at top bookmakers. Can the visitors at least show some improvement on their previous visit to Exeter this season? The general handicap line sits at +12 for the visitors.
Kell Brook v Michael Zerafa
Boxing – 7.00 pm
Sky Sports
Did the Deontay Wilder v Tyson Fury event spoil boxing for everyone for a bit? It is going to be hard to top the action from that epic draw in the heavyweight division. It pretty much capped off a superb year for the sport. This weekend’s top boxing action sees Sheffield star Kell ‘Special K’ Brook continue his comeback trail. After back to back losses against Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spencer (losing his IBF welterweight title in the latter) Brooks last stepped out for an easy second-round win over Sergey Rabchenko in March this year, winning the vacant WBC Silver super-welterweight title. It is back to home soil for Brook this weekend as he faces Australian Michael Zerafa.
Brooks is a general 4/11 to win this by a knockout at leading bookmakers. Brook takes a 37-2 career record with him into the fight. Zerafa, aka Pretty Boy, is the massive underdog for the fight. He is a former Commonwealth Super-Welterweight champion and has a 25-2 career record. The talk from his camp, of course, is that Brook is underestimating Zerafa. The Australian has a 52% knockout record. He carries an eight-fight winning streak into the duel with him, but this is a genuine step up in class of opposition for Zerafa. But that of course, is where the real upsets happen.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of course when it comes to the full weekend of the high-class sporting option. Check out more weekend tips with Big Bets Bobby!
